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Murray quotes about final cuts, etc.

Just got off the phone with Terry Murray and got his thoughts on today’s cuts and how they will impact the opening-night roster. Please forgive any typos…I wanted to get these quotes up ASAP. Murray said team management met after last night’s game and informed the players of their decisions this morning.

Here are the quotes…
—–

Question: Can you talk about what went into the decision to keep Ersberg over Bernier?

MURRAY: “The meeting we had with Jonathan was about going down and working on his game and continuing to play the way he finished the last couple months of last season. Everyone’s feedback was very positive with his work ethic and intensity. Of course, I wasn’t there to see all that in Manchester, but my observation and feedback to him was that when he came up — there were a couple games last year when he came up and he backed up — I was able to see him practice. The talk I had with him then was that I needed to see more work and more intensity. Then when I got a look at him in the development camp in July, and in training camp, I was quite honestly blown away with the way he turned things around. He did great work. Physically, he obviously spent a lot of time working in the offseason and he got stronger and everything seems to be going right in perfect direction for him.”

Question: But you go with Ersberg. Is the thought that Bernier can still develop better in Manhcester?

MURRAY: “It is the thought. It’s just him continuing to work at the same level as he finished off the season down there. Continue with it, handle it the right way, deal with it and become one of the top goaltenders in the AHL and help that team move toward the playoffs down there. The bottom line is just to learn and to develop your game.”

Question: The question that everyone will have is, `How did he take it?’ Last year, Bernier admitted that he didn’t deal well, mentally, with going to the AHL. Are you confident that he will be OK with this move?

MURRAY: “I was not in the meeting last year, but I’m very confident that he’s going to go down with the right attitude and continue to build on his game. He indicated in the meeting that everything was good and that he understood where we were coming from. He indicated that it took a couple months for him to sort it out last year. That’s wasted time, where he could have been pushing himself and getting better. He’s more mature now. There’s no question that he feels he’s a player who can play in the NHL, and we agree with that. I agree with that. We feel he’s going to be a very good goalie in the NHL, and it’s not too far down the road. I told him this morning, `Don’t ever begrudge your time in the trenches. Work hard, stay intense, and when the opportunity comes up, be ready to take advantage of it.”

Question: To the extent that preseason numbers matter, Ersberg’s numbers weren’t great. Are you confident that he can handle that backup role?

MURRAY: “I look at the entire training camp for him. I also go back to last year. He was in the NHL last year for me. I thought that, with the decision we made to bring Quick up, and with Quick playing the majority of the games, there were situations that I put Ersberg in that were tough. Playing after sitting for a long time, and after late-night arrivals — I remember one game in particular in Philadelphia — he handled it all well, and played well. That’s a big part of it too. Not a lot of goaltenders can step in and play after not playing for two, two and a half weeks. Ersberg has done it. The other side is with Jon Bernier, to work and continue to become a solid goaltender. The combination of those two helped in the decision.”

Question: To ask about the fourth line, I sort of have to back into it by asking about Rich Clune. Is it still the thought that he’s going to be out a couple weeks?

MURRAY: “I haven’t had an update on that today. When I first asked about him, it was maybe three weeks. If that has changed, I don’t know. He’s out for a while. The groin has to be 100 percent, especially with that kind of game he plays.”

Question: Before the injury, had he made the team in your mind?

MURRAY: “Yeah. I wanted him on the hockey club because of what he brought. I liked that middleweight attitude and the style of play.”

Question: So the thought would be that, when he’s healthy, he will be on the NHL team?

MURRAY: “I would say yes. But is there a possibility he might have to get restarted in Manchester for a couple games? There is that possibility, yes.”

Question: That leaves you with four forwards for three spots on the fourth line. What are you thoughts about what the fourth line will look like?

MURRAY: “I’m still, quite honestly, looking at that. We’ve got Raitis, Richardson, Lewis, Harrold, and we have to make a decision on three of those. I like the way everyone has played throughout the camp.”

Question: How about Raitis in particular? There’s a lot of debate about whether a player like him needs to be in the lineup every night. Do you want him in there every night?

MURRAY: “A player like Raitis, every team in the league has a player like Raitis, pretty much. Coming out of the training camp and looking at our conference, he needs to be in our lineup and on our team. He gives confidence to your skill players, that nobody is going to be taken advantage of, that nobody is going to step out of line without having to deal with Raitis. It’s a very comfortable feeling for our young players, especially with the decision we have made to go with a number of young players. He lost weight, which we asked him to do, he’s much more flexible and he’s getting up the ice very well. As you saw last night, we’re even able to move him up into a different situation for a few shifts and he did well. The type of player he is, it’s needed.”

Question: With Harrold, Lewis and Richardson, you have three guys who could center that line. Were you motivated by that flexibility there?

MURRAY: “It’s great flexibility. Lewis has played all three position. Richardson plays left wing and center. They’re all contributing on the penalty kill. Lewis and Harrold can play on the power play and were used there during the training camp. That’s a nice addition to our hockey club. I feel very confident with any one of them if they need to move up into a different role. We added speed, versatility and hunger.”

Any insight into what went into the Kings decision to keep Martinez over Hickey?

It’s good to hear that Bernier is going down with the right attitude. You know at some point, he’s going to have to come up big for us before the year is out.

wavesinair

Excellent stuff! Wow, Great insight. It’s official, TM is going with the KDL line and Ivan is here to stay. BIG. Handled Bernier like an old pro. Lathered him up and sent him on his way. Nice work TM!

Krystoff

Murray’s thoughts on Raitis are flat out wrong, and they were proven wrong repeatedly last season.
Artyukhin didn’t fear taking a run at Doughty, and there were numerous times when opposition players took liberties and flat out refused “to go” with Raitis.
He doesn’t have the “green light” to take an instigator penalty.

macdup

Any chance to interview Bernier? I would love to hear his thoughts on the move. I really think that he is the future goaltender of the Kings and felt a bit for him when I read he was sent down. I think it was the right decision and will eventually make him mentally tough.

Anyone been to Manchester? Is it a nice place to live? I feel a road trip coming on…

JDM

Flat out wrong? I don’t think so. Rat boy is one of the scariest mofo’s in the league when it comes to enforcers, which is why so many people turn him down for fights. Would you rather he take an instigator? Sure, sometimes its appropriate, but he can’t jump every guy who is a wuss and won’t fight him. That’s bad form. And really we are all just highly po’ed over 2 incidents (Artyukin and Malkin), because aside from that, people didn’t take many liberties with players last year. Its not like it was a regular occurrence. And anyways, if you’re problem is that he doesn’t have the green light to take instigator penalties, then your problem is not with Raitis so much as it is Murray.

Also, while I agree last season was Raitis’ worst so far, I think it largely has to do with the team as a whole figuring out its identity. Its hard to stand up for players who haven’t really come together as a team. It’s also hard for Raitis to get pumped up about defending his team when the team can’t get pumped up to play a game.

If you’ve seen any preseason action (which I’m assuming you have not Krystoff, because no games have been televised and I know you are completely opposed to paying AEG a cent), you would know that attitude has COMPLETELY turned around for the whole team. These guys have come together and they are all willing to stand up for each other now, and with that, I think you will see very different reactions when someone does take a run at a Doughty or a Kopitar. We already saw this with OD’s suspension. I believe we will see a similar change with Raitis’ game. If you think back beyond last year, Raitis was remarkably GREAT at doing his job.

He scares the sh*t out of people.

Hell, he scares the sh*t out of me when they pan across the bench during the national anthem.

Crownme87

Krystoff,

you might have missed these two sentences so I’ll paste them again.

“He gives confidence to your skill players, that nobody is going to be taken advantage of, that nobody is going to step out of line without having to deal with Raitis. It’s a very comfortable feeling for our young players, especially with the decision we have made to go with a number of young players.”

JDM

I should add that my biggest beef with Ivanans is that he is not a great hitter. If he learned to throw more of his weight into his checks, it would make him much more effective a deterrent than simply fighting everyone.

Jonny

Ivan isn’t scary. Murray was wrong about everything except that “ivanans gets up the ice quicker”.. but that doesnt mean he still doesnt hook and hold all the way up the ice.

madA

I was at the game last night. Ivanans wanted a go with Artyukhin, but Arty wanted nothing of him. Right after that, the ‘Stache challenged Ivanans, but Ivanans skated away. It doesn’t sound like George is a’scared of him.

Ivanans took some horrible penalties last night, especially the unsportsmanlike that led to the last ducks goal. He was terrible. He needs to keep both hands on his stick, or he’s gonna get a ton of holding penalties this year.

Moose

If Ivanans didn’t have the green light to take an instigator penalty, then why did Lombardi and Murray both go out of their way to praise O’Donnell and even lament that they couldn’t pay his fine when he defended Doughty?

I definitely disagree that Murray has somehow put the handcuffs on Ivanans. I think the organization wants these guys to stand up for themselves and each other. They understand that penalties like O’Donnell’s builds team camaraderie, even when it means killing off a 5 minute major.

Well as you all know Rich keeps us well informed but if you want a to see the KINGS from a differnt angle, this is going to be GREAT! I think it is just getting started but I will post the link for you all to decide.

Bernier showed me a lot by how he came into Kings Camp , focused and determined to win a roster spot , it shows he has matured .. he has tons of ability…but i still have questions about his mental toughness when things dont go his way. That was proven to be true when he came to us here in Manchester with his rough start last season . It will be interesting to see how that translates to his focus and play to start the season this year. This season we need to see him come to Manchester and prove that he is one of the best goaltenders in the American Hockey League and lead us to the playoffs. I think he needs one more year of seasoning . This formula certainly worked for Tuuka Rask of the Boston Bruins , who this year will be the backup to Tim Thomas. If he continues to progress like i think we all know he can , he will force the Kings hand in regards to Erik Ersberg to make room for him . The problem is making sure you have a capable and upcoming #3 to take his place in Manchester.. the Fans here are passionate , a very hockey savy area and a great place to play.. not to mention we have one of the best arenas and fan bases in the AHL.

JDM

George “Zappa” Parros ain’t afraid of nobody. For my money, he is one of, if not outright THE best enforcer in the league. He can hit, play and will fight anybody. Still bothers me that we let him get away.

A few of you have hit the nail on the head… I went to the game last night as well… Ivanans was really, really out of place. Tried to fight Artyukin, tried being the key word. Took two really, really bad penalties, one that led to a goal. In my opinion, he isn’t needed. You just need a gritty line with Westgarth and Clune and whomever and a team that wont let players like Artyukin take runs at your players. Green, Simmonds, whomever.

Krystoff

I’m not anti-Ivanans, nothing that Murray says makes much sense, however. Ivanans is pretty much a “crowd pleaser” and I see him as a diversion from the real core problem–finishing bottom 5 three years running.

I distinctly remember players taking liberties with Frolov, Brown, Moller, Kopitar, and others last season, but there’s nothing Ivan can do if he isn’t going to get instigators. Real players (i.e. – not goons) simply refuse to fight him, then he returns to the bench, and that’s that.
This reminds me of Murray’s/Lombardi’s praise of Andre Roy last season. They guy flat out sucks, but they call him a “battleship,” if I remember correctly.

jet

Krystobal — We have beat this topic into the ground. It is critical to have protection for the kids. One half of the team has less than 100 games experience. They need to know that they can make a clean, hard check and they won’t be followed around the ice the rest of the night by a foam drooling ogre. There were 2 times when one of our kids took a cheap shot during the season. But, how many times did our kids not have to endure a cheap shot because they were protected, 30 40, 50? The kids played much better in games where RI played and that is the bottom line. His presence makes the team braver and better.

JDM

I always took that “battleship” comment as an insult, actually. If I remember correctly (I will try to remember to look it up the actual quote tomorrow), Lombardi basically said, in so many words “He’s a useless player, good for only thing.” To me, battleship meant he’s a huge SOB but worthless in a moving battle.

Your points, to me, reitterate my point that Ivanans would be more effective if he threw better, more menacing checks, not took instigators whenever someone won’t fight him. There are other ways to intimidate.

If Malkin gives Simmonds a cheap shot, you don’t fight Malkin. You don’t even fight the Pens resident goon. You plaster Malkin into the glass and make his head spin.

If Artyukin knees Doughty, and you try to fight Artyukin, but if he chicken sh*ts out, then you slash his ankles and/or give him a trip to the physical therapist with a nice cross check and/or (preferably) send him THROUGH the glass with a devastating but clean check.

Ivanans doesn’t do these things enough, and that’s what bothers me. He’s a great fighter and people are scared of him. Or, if you think player’s are not scared of him, the reason they don’t fight is because they know he, nor anyone else, is going to deliver one of the bone crushing hits or cross-checks and make him regret it.

I understand the need for a guy who will deter the opposition from taking liberties but I don’t think Ivan is the guy and I agree with JDM about Parros. The guy is the man. I was sad when we lost him.

Also, Rich, thanks for this. Really good stuff.

I am also curious about the decision to keep Martinez over Hickey. Does it have to do with saving his contract for a year? I know that wouldn’t have mattered had he been stellar in the pre-season but he still would of helped the PP (not that its our weak point right now but still… would have liked to have seen him suit up this year). We will see him at some point this season though, of that I am certain. Anyone goes down and he’s the first guy on my list to come up.

Thanks again. Can’t wait to see the new site.

kingscupcounter

Well put JDM…=Clune.

DellaNooch

Can we drop Westgarth from our roster conversation, unless he did something in pre-season that was better than what I saw last year (i.e. he was way too slow for the NHL and seemed completely clueless out there), I don’t see this guy as NHL material…as for Ivanans, no one fights him because they will get clowned on and having him throw these thunderous checks requires some serious timing, that’s why very few guys in the NHL are so good at it, Ivanans would most likely hit the guy too late, get a match penalty of some sort and then the other team would take liberties on our team because he is gone (after the 5 minute PP)…
With that said, I would rather our heavy weight be more like McSorley, who actually put up some points as well. Not sure we have a guy like that in our system.
Perhaps with the emergance of Clune, Simmonds, JMFJ, “Mean” Matt Greene, Brownie, and of course, reliable Odie laying beat downs as well, TM will see we don’t have a need for Ivanans anymore and we can fill his 5 minutes a game with some other guy that can put up 4 points a season (doubling Ivanans from last season) and everyone can be happy

Some fan

I hate Ivanans. He can fight when he wants to. But he seems to lack the ability to sense when a response is necesary.

I remember last year the Kings were in St Louis, and Cam Jansen took a bunch of runs at various Kings during a shift. That same shift the Blues ice the puck, they can’t change. I’m saying to myself, “Terry Murray, please, for the love of God, put Ivanans on the ice to take care of Jansen”. Terry Murray answers my prayers, puts Ivanans on the ice, he lines up next to Jansen for the faceoff, and then…nothing.

No fight, no crosscheck, no discussion, no nothing. He thinks he is out there to try and score.

The guy is a bum that is either too stupid to understand his role on the team or he just flat out refuses to answer the bell when it rings.

With Westgarth, you just get the feeling he actually enjoys fighting, will fight at the drop of a hat, is just begging for an excuse to go with someone.

Which guy would you rather have on your team?

Jonny

we never lost parros. im pretty sure we literally just gave him away. just cut him, released him… whatever

nykingfan

I agree Della that Westgarth proved nothing last year and from all indications, nothing during the pre-season. If the decision came down to keeping either Ivanans or Westgarth, it really is a no-brainer. Westgarth hasn’t done anything to warrant a spot on the roster. He doesn’t fight..takes bad penalties, and has no skill.
Ivanans is nothing special either, but you need a guy like him on your team. There is an intimidation factor involved. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that other teams and players don’t take note of who the big guys are on the other team. While it’s great that we have some really good feisty players who will drop the gloves in a heartbeat..Greene/Simmonds/Clune/OD etc…but they’re middleweights and nobody in the league is going to fear retribution from a middleweight.
A skill player wants to hear a guy like Ivanans say, “I got your back” You’re not going to worry about a guy taking a cheap shot.

Dave in Torrance

You guys keep forgetting, he had those 2 game winning goals last year. I’m a big Raitis fan. Bad penalties, fee fi fo fum, blah blah blah. Its nice to see a few other guys have his back. You other guys are fooling yourselves if you think that some of these other, smaller guys would be able to step up and fill his shoes. He’s not going to be a 20 goal scorer, it kind of hurts watching him skate, but you really think Matt Greene (nothing against Mattie) stands a chance against the Boogieman? Against Brashear? I have nothing to base this off of other than Murrays statement, but it makes sense to me that the younger guys are pretty happy to have Raitis glaring at everyone on the other team, just waiting for his 5 minutes on the ice, and his 5 minutes in the box for fighting. Go Kings

Chris Bond

Rich, Can you comment on what will happen to this site on Oct 1st. Does it go away or does some other writer take over?

Dan H.

I keep seeing that players are afraid of him. Yeah he looks like the big retarded guy in Goonies but I haven’t seeen anything in a fight (the 5 he had last season) that would make me think anyone would fear him.

I think they don’t fight him because they know he’s just about as smart as the retarded guy in Goonies and he’ll take stupid penalties every time he’s on the ice if you agitate him and their team goes on the power play and wins the game.

Lappy was the perfect guy for the job and Lacroix was another one. Hard hitting, glass shattering checks and would drop the gloves if they needed to to help a teammate.

Too many Kings were cheap shotted last year and only OD was there to deal out some sort of reprisal. Ivanans wasn’t to be found.

wavesinair

One thing is certain Bond, you don’t have long to wait to find out! Today and tomorrow…that’s it!!! I have about 1,000 questions, many of which will be answered very soon. New blog, new team, new season…it feels like Christmas and it’s only the end of September.

Ersberg

Dan H. said

Too many Kings were cheap shotted last year and only OD was there to deal out some sort of reprisal. Ivanans wasn’t to be found.

We have a winner.

That’s exactly what took place last season, which is why the team got chewed out.

Ivanans is, in fact, expendable. He’s no better than Westgarth.

nykingfan

Dan H

I hear what you’re saying, but your missing the point. There’s no better teammate than a guy like Lappy…but if you’re a 6’3″ 220 lbs guy who’s about to take a run at Doughty, do you really think he’s thinking in the back of his mind…hey I better be careful or Lappy’s going to be coming after me? No question Lappy will put his face in front of a glove for a teammate, but that’s not an intimidating force.

It’s not the amount of fights that Ivanans has…it’s the intimidation factor. If you took a poll of players around the league, how many do you think wouldn’t mind dropping the gloves and going at it with Ivanans? I’m pretty confident it would only be the Parros, Brashear, Boogieman’s of the league that would look forward to it.

I just finished reading the Times article on the Kings cuts and Elliot had quotes from DL
He seemed pretty pissed that Westgarth didn’t earn a spot on the team. His belief was that everything was set up for Westgarth to take that spot and he showed nothing during the summer to grab hold of the job. Sounds like a guy who may be on the outs with the organization.
He also had interesting things to say about Bernier. We all knew that they weren’t happy with how he performed prior to February….but DL gave the impression that Bernier did nothing but sulk for the time he was down there. That hurt his chances of making the team this year. I don’t think any of us realized how pissed Kings management was with Bernier’s act last year. Hopefully he learned his lesson and will go down and be the star he should be.

Ersberg

So, what exactly does Ivanans do to KEEP his job?

That’s what I want to know.

He sure as hell wasn’t around when Artyukhin clipped Doughty. So what if he doesn’t drop the gloves with Ivanans? Ivanans could have at least shown his displeasure by scrumming it up with him between whistles.

That’s our point.

Paul from Oxnard

Terry Murray is on NHL Live this morning during the first hour. If you have XM Radio it’s on now. If you have the NHL Network on TV it’s on now and will be repeated at 2pm Pacific this afternoon.

Big A

nykingfan – I looked for that Elliott article online but only ran into a garbage article that she wrote complaining about the Angels celebration yesterday (and give me a break, with what they went through this year, they deserved it… win or lose against Boston, their happiness yesterday isn’t going to make the slightest difference.)

DL obviously saw far, far more than me (I went to one exhibition game and camp one day) but it sounds hard to believe that he’s seriously suggesting that Westgarth dogged it in camp. Westgarth’s hustle really stuck out in fact; he was almost comparable to Simmonds in his efforts. He went to the net to fight for rebounds, and was one of the best forecheckers on the ice. Was involved in two goals in scrimmage, and I believe he assisted on one in the preseason game.

I don’t know his “fight stats”, but he certainly got in a number of scraps in the early pre-season games. He may well have leveled off a little in the last week and half, granted, but to suggest that he showed nothing just boggles my mind. Number 41 was the guy one one knee, looking as winded as could be…

Kings Fan Since72

The Kings need a new enforcer or a couple middle weights. I am suprised we would all be wasting our time talking this much on the subject, but guess what? The Kings brass put us in this situation, and should have explored this before this season started.
Ivanans & Westgarth = (0)
DL should have went out and snagged or traded for someone or a couple scoring middle weights that can fight.

I like Shanahan’s style, Lappy’s style, Brendan Morrow’s style, I would rather have 2-3 middles than a stupid penalty taking, no talent heavyw in my book.
Then you’ll see the Kings team on each line and shift have what it takes to compete and feel protected, knowing alot more players on your team will stick up for you in any given time or situation.
One so-called heavy is not enough.

The Future Kings GM Hath Spoken

nykingfan

Ersberg

Agree 100% Nobody did anything to Artuykin last year. It was a disgrace and the team caught holy hell for it…
I’m sure Ivanans was the guy who got chewed out the most for not doing anything, but that doesn’t mean you just give up on him. Everyone on the team made mistakes last year in doing their job. Fro took nights off…Kopitar wasn’t in great shape…
If the same situation with Artuykin or anyone else arises, I feel certain that Ivanans will be the guy to dish out the beating to whoever is deserving of it.
God forbid if it happens again and he doesn’t…I also feel certain that he’ll be walking the unemployment line shortly thereafter.

I’m shocked, we usually get no respect in these rankings and now they have us in the top 15. Let’s hope our boys earn that rank and a lot higher this season.

Ersberg

Della-

Thanks for the link. All was well with that list, until I backed up and noticed they have TB at #10. I’d add a “0” to the end of that number to put them at 100.

Dan H.

Ivanans had 13 fights last year…that’s his role.

Who was second? Greene with 9. So you have a knuckledragger that has a job to do and a top 4 defenseman has 4 less fights than that guy.

And people were taking cheap shots all year. Not much of a deterrent.

Real7

The Key to Kings success this year can be summed-up in two words imo….

Kopitar & Brown

Most will admit that they were awful last season, under-performers on a grand scale; however, I fully expect a total reversal of that sorry form….

Let’s Go Kings !!

Dan H.

Don’t forget Williams and Smyth. Smyth is consistent but Kopi and Brown plus these two is the key…as long as Quick stays solid.

jack handy

detroit sure does struggle without a knuckle dragger.

all those young guys from the AHL that they pull up from time to time sure look scared when they’re scoring goals and contributing to the big club.

i hope T-mf’ing-M and Evil Ivo prove me wrong on this, but to me, team toughness > a heavyweight.

HBfan13

I think the expectation is that Kyle Clifford will develop into the Marty Mac Sorley type. so we’re realiscally two years away from having the homegrown middleweight we are all looking for.

PaulCat1969

Real7,

As far as I am concerned our success comes down to two words – “Second LIne”, How Purcell, Stoll and Brown perform will have a direct impact on how this teams succeeds or fails. We needed to upgrade our offense and I think that Williams, Kopitar and Smyth are going to be fine and I think the Frolov, Handzus and Simmonds are going to be tough all season long. ”We are asking a lot from that second line and I hope they are up to the task.

PRMan

Kind of offtopic, but Techdirt has an article on the unique relationship you have with the Kings and how it relates to news media reinventing itself.

The biggest concern is whether you can remain impartial while being paid by the Kings.

darko25o

Dear Ivanans fans…
Ratis has done nothing to solidify his position on the team. Our guys were still run, and cheapshotted. What are the advantages of having this guy on the team, giving our penalty kill practice? I would rather have Westgarth, who is not nearly the penalty liability that Ratis is. Also, Whens the last time anyone say Ratis crush someone with a check…it never happens! He’s become to slow, and reckless, that his positioning causes him to be completely useless on the forecheck. I’ll take a crappy fighter who kills on the forecheck, and delivers crushing hits, consistantly, any day over Ratis-Moen or Begin

How great is this when the biggest question mark going into the season is whether Ivanans should be on the team?

I was looking over the roster and realized something..Other than Martinez on D..and it looks like that will be a short term thing..We have a turnover from the end of last season of 3 guys!
Smythe/Williams/Scuderi
When was the last time a Kings team has the continuity that we’re seeing now? There should be no excuses from this team and coach this season. These guys have all been together with the same coach and same system for 2 full training camps. Everyone should be on the same page and know what’s expected of them. They should be able to just focus on playing the game and improving from last season.
I guess I see things thru purple and Gold colored glasses, but I think this team should realistically make the playoffs.

Real7

PC69,
My main point is that these Front Line guys have to step-up their game “a-hell-of-a-lot”!
Of course, Every Man is important, but when you’re not getting production from the Kopitar….last year with his Big New Contract….and Brownie is not scoring goals….then you’re in big trouble….
Fortunately we have the veteran Smyth to “Show-Em-How”
this season….I expect if Every Man plays up to his potential and we stay relatively Injury Free, this will be a Playoff Year….

Pat McGroyn

Hey all,

Dean Lombardi was interviewed for about 15 minutes on the Fan590 in Toronto this morning. Click on the link below to hear his thoughts on Brayden Schenn, Frolov, the Jack Johnson/Rob Scuderi Pairing, and Dean’s “one more major signing” that he is trying to complete as soon as possible!

PARROS, one of the best? Are you guys delusional? While he is exciting to watch fight at times, he has probably the worst balance of any enforcer on the ice. No doubt he can throw some punches but if he is expected to become one of the top enforcers he better work on his balance control

Real7

If Simmonds keeps up the pace he’s been setting SO FAR with the Kings, I’d expect comparisons with the likes of Fleury and Iginla before long…He Will be fun to watch this year….

Just read about Gretz..this SO has to happen! It’s just what would bring things full circle. He needs to help finish what he started here and get that Cup that eluded us in 93. Bring him and the Kings back to glory. The kids in LA would benefit GREATLY from him hangin around! Hope it happens!

deadcatbounce

Just listened to the Lombardi interview. Anyone else think he’s a sound-alike for Joe Walsh?

DellaNooch

I know this sounds rather NFLish, but bring Wayne back as an Offensive Coordinator, someone that can teach these kids how to pass in the big leagues and see the ice better, NO ONE was better at this than 99. Hopefully they can seal the deal by opening night.

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Who is behind Inside the Kings blog?

Elliott Teaford is an award-winning hockey reporter based in Southern California and witnessed the L.A. Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and in '14. He grew up playing outdoors on the streets of Philadelphia. He also watched the Flyers bully their way to consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1970s, and makes no excuses for their quasi-legal play.

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